KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest

Inslee signs law allowing fictitious ID program to continue

Austin Jenkins — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:01:00 +0000

Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a law that will allow the state’s fictitious driver’s license program to continue, but only for undercover law enforcement activities. At the bill signing Tuesday, Inslee backed away from a previous statement that he would apply a broad definition of the term “law enforcement.

Workers stage protest at Alaska Air shareholders meeting

Ashley Gross — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:04:47 +0000

Dozens of protesters including flight attendants, baggage handlers, and religious leaders turned Alaska Air Group’s annual shareholders meeting into a raucous affair on Tuesday.

The protest began outside with chanting flight attendants who haven’t reached a new contract with the company after 18 months of negotiations.

Cash only for marijuana businesses after credit union backs away

Keith Seinfeld — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:41:19 +0000

Verity Credit Union has backed away from helping marijuana businesses open checking accounts. The move is a major setback for pot businesses as the Seattle credit union had been the only financial institution in the state openly providing banking to those shops.

Why Oklahomans don't like basements

Scott Neuman — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:06:34 +0000

When Randy Keller moved from Texas to the Oklahoma City area seven years ago, he couldn't find the house he was looking for.

"I was moving from Texas, where there are also a lot of tornadoes," says the professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Oklahoma who experienced the 1970 tornado in Lubbock, Texas.

Oklahoma schools hit by tornado had no safe rooms

The Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:04:52 +0000

An emergency official says Oklahoma has reinforced tornado shelters in more than 100 schools across the state, but the two that were hit by this week's storms in suburban Oklahoma City did not have them.

Albert Ashwood is director of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. He told reporters Tuesday it's up to each jurisdiction to set priorities for which schools get limited funding for safe rooms.

WATCH: Moore Tornado As Seen From Space

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:24:25 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNYO5n3aQp4

Japanese officials visit Hanford to learn nuclear cleanup strategies

Anna King — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:17:28 +0000

The people overseeing the cleanup of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster are learning some valuable lessons from the long-running cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. A Japanese government delegation recently toured some of the southeast Washington site this week.

Win tickets to see jazz vocalist Sara Gazarek at The Triple Door

Brenda Goldstein-Young — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:54:12 +0000

Enter here to win!

Jazz vocalist Sara Gazarek
May 29, choose 7:30 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. show
The Triple Door, Seattle

Amongst a community teaming with startlingly gifted young singers, Sara Gazarek stands out as a particularly extravagant artist. Her first two albums introduced her singular sound and vision, steeped in the tradition of jazz but deeply informed by contemporary songwriters and performers. With Blossom & Bee, her highly anticipated debut release on the respected indie label Palmetto, Gazarek turns over an exciting, glistening new leaf.

Vertical 'pinkhouses:' The future of urban farming?

Michaeleen Doucleff — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:28:09 +0000

The idea of vertical farming is all the rage right now. Architects and engineers have come up with spectacular concepts for lofty buildings that could function as urban food centers of the future.

In Sweden, for example, they're planning a 177-foot skyscraper to farm leafy greens at the edge of each floor.

Lawyer: Feds investigate Susan Powell case

The Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:21:45 +0000

The lawyer for the family of a missing Utah woman says there's an ongoing federal investigation into Susan Powell's disappearance.

Anne Bremner made the announcement at a Seattle news conference on Tuesday, a day after local officials in Utah said they had closed their investigation into the Susan Powell case.

My social security number is posted where?

NPR Staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:58:42 +0000

Sensitive personal information belonging to thousands of applicants to a government phone program was exposed to the public on the Internet, according to a new investigative report from Scripps Howard News Service.

The federal program is called Lifeline, and it reimburses phone companies for providing service to low-income Americans.

Scripps reporter Isaac Wolf says he was able to access more than 100,000 records from one of those private

'Nanogardens' sprout up on the surface of a penny

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:37:11 +0000

April showers bring May flowers. But in this case, the blossoms are too small for even a bumblebee to see.

Engineers at Harvard University have figured out a way to make microscopic sculptures of roses, tulips and violets, each smaller than a strand of hair.

To get a sense of just how small these flower sculptures are, grab a penny and flip it on its back. Right in the middle of the Lincoln Memorial, you'll see a faint impression of Abraham Lincoln.

Microsoft reveals Xbox One

The Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:22:29 +0000

Microsoft thinks it has the one.

The company revealed the Xbox One, its next-generation entertainment console, during a presentation Tuesday at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

Medical examiner: 24 dead in Oklahoma twister

The Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:07:41 +0000

Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least nine children, and those numbers were expected to climb.

As the sun rose over the shattered community of Moore, the state medical examiner's office cut the estimated death toll by more than half but warned that the number was likely to climb again.

Exhibit inspires woman to try to avoid buying plastics for a month

Bellamy Pailthorp — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:14:00 +0000

Plastics have only been in wide use since the 1940s, yet they are everywhere, from sandwich bags to phones, to keyboards, to rain gear. Even the cans of soup in the grocery aisle are lined with it.

It's hard to imagine a world before these conveniences. What would your life be like without plastics?